CRUEL SUMMER
CHAPTER 019 , DEADBEAT

" IS THAT OK? AM I HURTING YOU?" Renee asked, placing a bandaid on the cut that sat on the left side of Heyward's head — yet another victim of Limbrey and her attempts on convincing Pope to give her the key.

" no, you're doing just fine." the older man reassured the blonde girl who sadly smiled as she smoothed the edges with her fingers to adhere it to his head.

Wiping an antiseptic wipe over the edges that the plaster covered, collecting remnants of his blood " and...done." she told him, weakly pulling her lips into a smile.

" thank you darlin," Heyward smiled at the girl who hummed " that boyfriend of yours is a lucky one."

Silence. The group looked over at one another in an array of awkward gazes, Renee lifting her gaze to the blonde boy who was looking back at her, lips downturned and eyes slightly doey. The person who embodied the raw ache that now lived in her body.

Renee loved his eyes and hated seeing them so sad, that's why she looked away quickly and instead gave Heyward a small smile before stepping to the side, to Sarah who held her hand out for the girl to take.

Pope soon stood over his father, his face a picture of concern " Pop, what happened?" he asked, worry flurrying in his voice as his dad kept his gaze off of his son.

" Oh, I should've known better." He told them "he came in just as I was about to lock up, caught me by surprise."

He began to retail the encounter " once he had me down, he put his knee in my chest." Renee felt slightly sickened by the violent image being painted before her

" and he asked me about that...that..that..that key from that drawing you showed me." the older man stuttered.

" and in case you were wondering." Renee looked up, " I ain't tell him nothing."he told them and Renee could help but feel a slight upturn of her lips in admiration of his bravery.

He looked at his son, " Now, did you track it down?" he asked. Pope looking to the blonde girl who furrowed her eyebrows slightly, the boy reaching into his back pocket before presenting a key to his dad.

" I found it in mee-maw's old apartment above the pharmacy just like you said it was."

Heyward exhale " shit boy you should've gave this to me." He told him " I wouldn't had to take a beating."

" what's the big deal? It ain't worth anything, why they want it so bad?" He looked around to the group, all as clueless as one another.

" I don't know, first I get this letter telling me I need to go to Charleston." He recalls the events of the last week to his dad " and then I meet a rich lady who wants me to give her a key and I didn't even know was in my family."

Renee shook her head " none of it makes any sense." she inputs.

Heyward looked up the girl " well, don't y'all just sit here whining about it." He told them " figure it out!"

Pope shook his head, adamant " no. I'm just gonna give the key to the lady, it's not worth—"

Heyward began a string of 'no's', cutting off his son " did I raise you to back down from a fight boy?"

Pope shook his head " no, sir."

His dad nodded, " well, all right now I didn't think about it before I admit that." He told him "but now.."  he pointed his finger to the bandage.

" I'm interested." He informed the group " well, did they why they wanted it?"

Pope leant in slightly " something about an old cross, I think it might be some kind of lost treasure."

Heyward held the key infront of pope " you know who you should talk to? Your great grandmother, mee-maw."

Renee leant into Sarah with a small smile, " I still find it adorable Pope calls his grandmother mee-maw."

She heard a chuckle from the opposite side of the decking, her eyes scanned as she looked at JJ. he wasn't looking back at her but his smile small a reaction in consequence of her words. It didn't last long but it was there, even just for second.

A second that Renee felt slightly less heartbroken about.

" SO THATS ESSENTIALLY WHAT HAPPENED." Renee finished telling Kiara and Sarah as they stood on the opposite side of the street opposed to JJ and John B who sat in the van.

Having dropped Pope to speak to his grandmother — the van was silent, Renee and JJ too scared to converse with the others incase it led to confrontation with one another. This is how it had to be, at the moment anyways. Despite both of them hating it.

Renee and JJ were yet to talk, and instead found some sort of false comfort with the pain in their chests whenever they looked at one another — he was angry at her for just giving up on them, for not talking to him. And Renee didn't understand how JJ couldn't see that she only loved him.

Renee didn't fully understand JJ's jealousy, in her head she didn't see Fletchers flirting with her as a problem because she knew she didn't like him back and couldn't fathom how JJ could feel like she ever did.

But here they stood,  only a few metres away from one another yet it felt they were like entire galaxies apart — Sarah and Kiara watching as the blonde watched her ex boyfriend with tear filled eyes in short bursts before she had to force herself to look away.

And John B sat in the twinky, watching his best friend do the same thing but no so obviously as he stared at the inverted gaze of Renee in the left wing mirror, his eyes sad, his whole body slumped.

Tilting his body, John B got his best friends attention " what is going on with you bro?" he asks, to which JJ furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. Yet, still didn't deter his gaze from the blonde who was now sat on the sidewalk sipping a slushie.

" I don't know what you mean." JJ grumbles, as John B rolls his eyes " I don't know what's possessed you recently, but last night you do realise that you broke up with the girl you've been in love with for the last...what- two years?"

JJ's gaze softened, slightly. Very much still in love with her, John B tilted his chin up slightly.

" and from what I gathered...it's because some dude has got the hots for her? JJ every straight guy on this island has had the hots for that girl." He comments, JJ shakes his head.

" this is different." JJ told him, he gaze still stuck on her. " I can't compete with him." he admitted lowly.

John B turned his head with furrowed brows "what do you mean?"

JJ finally broke the gaze, lingering on John B as he exhaled heavily.

" look at her John B." And he turned his head and did, obviously seeing the girl who was heartbroken and still in love with the person who was still very much in love with her sat next to him.

JJ folded his arms " she don't belong with someone like me, she may be a pogue now but she'll grow out of it- she's got prospects and that shit."

" everyone knows it, Fletcher is perfect for her- he's rich and has actual ambitions...he could give her what she deserves in this world."

His voice raggedy as he continued to speak " and I'll be here probably in and out of jail, wishing I wasn't such a deadbeat in twenty years time so I could have ended up with her." JJ hummed.

The blondes gaze lingered back up to the girls who were coming towards the van " she'd leave me for someone like Fletcher one day, I just left first— saved myself from the pain of it."

John B watched the pain that tasseled in his best friends eyes as he lifted his hand and placed it on his friends shoulder — "dude,  if you think that that girl was ever going to leave you in any sort of world," John B murmured watching as the van door slid open.

" you're even more clueless that I thought you were." He mumbled, as the girls silently clambered in. They shared a look before going to drive off.

" I STILL CANT BELIEVE YOU'RE RELATED TO DENMARK TANNY," John B says as he passes by Pope to stand beside JJ.

A smile was lifted onto Renee's lips sat on an empty barrel of something as her legs dangled just above the floor — how long that smile would last ? she wasn't sure of,

" are we in the presence of a royal?" John B continued, Renee raising her hands along with her other friends as JJ move to place an imaginary crown on top of Pope's head.

" a king? we shall crown him." he announces " all hail the lord of Tannyhill!"

Renee couldn't help but let a few laughs escape her lips as she played into the small act her friends had going. " everybody relax, can we relax please?" Pope asks,

Renee lifts the can of beer to her lips, still cringing at the taste slightly " relocate the Cat's ass, question mark?" Sarah queries,

As questions float around about living arrangements, Renee looks to Pope and his less than pleased face. Shuffling to nudge him slightly meeting his gaze " you alright P?" she hums.

" I just keep thinking about the letter, the one that Limbrey sent." his answer takes ahold the attention of the whole group " it had the wheat symbol on it, that must mean it has something to do with the Royal Merchant."

" yeah something seems fishy." JJ agrees,

" But if we find that cross, we can split it like we were gonna split the gold." Pope declares as they nod, " yeah I'm happy with that-" JJ says.

" - and live happily ever after?" The voice of Limbrey makes Renee's head turn, her posture stiffening as she drops down onto the floor.

" You assaulted my father." Pope says through gritted teeth, moving forward to Limbrey only to be pushed back by her lapdog.

" Oh, I didn't assault anyone." she speaks in a righteousness that made Renee angry " he could identify the psycho from a while away." the blonde pitched up, earning a hard gaze from the psycho himself.

" why would my employee a-a-assault your father?" she asks, " that's absurd."

She steps forward " Listen, we can keep on negotiating but the fact is that I want the key." Renee stumbles back at the force that the man pushes Pope against the beam, " and I won't stop until I have it, I don't have a choice which means you don't either."

Renee catches a glimmer of gold as she looks over to John B who is toying a key between his fingers " It's Limbrey right ? Is that right?"

Her eyes widen as she notices the key between his fingers " yes." she replies, " is this what you're looking for?" John B further inquires.

She nods " yes, it is."

The brunette's gaze flickers to the sea " looking at the tide right now, I'd say it's about twenty feet deep out there, so if I just throw it in the channel.." he tells them " the probability of you finding it again is slim to none, wanna give it a shot let's see what happens ?"

Renee gasps slightly when he pretends to throw it into the ocean " please don't do that," Limbrey asks him.

John B points to the man who is still pinning down Pope on the beam " get him to back the hell up." Limbrey nods before turning to her 'employee'.

" back up." she instructs in a sweetness that makes Renee's skin shudder. Limbrey now approaching Pope " as I have told you from the beginning I am willing to be reasonable."

" okay." Pope says, earning a little surprised "okay" from Limbrey also.

" I'll give you the key, but I want the tape." Pope demands, " of course, of course." Limbrey tells him.

John B moves forward calling out Pope's name "you don't have to do this, okay."

Pope shakes his head " no, it's ok."

Renee furrows a brow at JJ's small smirk at the twos bickering that still continues — catching glances with him and then mouthing ' what's going on'

JJ's smirk widens and instead he taps the pad of his index finger on the skin of the side of his nose making Renee roll her eyes and smile a little but also.

Eventually, they exchange — key for the tape as they trade hands Renee can't help but feel a little bit deflated for Pope.

" You know, I wish that you'd come to this decision earlier." Limbrey tells him " we could have avoided all this unpleasantness." She turns and begins to walk away, leaving the teenagers on the harbour by themselves again.

Eventually, once they're farther away JJ talks, leaning into John B,

"how long do you think we have until she realises she has your father's old key?" Renee's head turns sharply and eyes widen at the pure genius of the plan she didn't even know was happening.

" ten minutes." John B replies,

Pope turning around to look at the group " whose idea was the fake key?" he questions, the girls denying it until the attention falters to the boys against the beam.

" Hmm, I don't know should we tell them?" John B hums, placing an arm around JJ's shoulder, causing a small wave of shock over the group, Renee not being able to fight the small smile of pride that works on her lips for her ex boyfriend.

John B reaches for the tape " we gotta take this tape to shoupe." he tells them.

" Yes sir," JJ agrees, " Ward Cameron were coming for you, big boy!"'

Everyone begins to walk away, leaving Renee who notices the look on Sarah's face — approaching her she takes her hand and interwines their fingers,

" come on," she speaks softly, earning a small smile from Sarah as they begin to trail behind everyone else.

AUTHORS NOTE
your honour, I love them

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